Recognizing barbeque as America’s cuisine, the mission of the Kansas City Barbeque Society is to celebrate, teach, preserve and promote barbeque as a culinary technique, sport and art form.

I accept my duties as a KCBS director to further the KCBS mission so that truth, justice, excellence in barbeque and the American way of life may be strengthened and preserved forever.

Minutes of Last Meeting

Sandy Fulton: I move to accept minutes of the September 14, 2016 meeting.

Financial Statements: Mark Simmons

The Finance Committee moves that the financials be approved as presented and entered into the permanent record of KCBS.

This concludes my report.

Respectfully Submitted,

Mark Simmons

Chairman

Treasurer

President’s Report

Randy Bigler:

Sanctioning Report: Kim Collier

Date R'cvd

Date of Contest

New Contest Name

City

ST

8/8/2016

09/09&10/2017

Smoke on the Ohio

Mt.Vernon

TN

Date R'cvd

Date of Contest

Existing Contest Name

City

ST

9/13/2016

04/28&29/2017

Uptown Lexington BBQ Capital Cook Off

Lexington

NC

9/8/2016

04/07&08/2017

Smoke in the Spring

Osage City

Ks

9/12/2016

08/25&26/2017

BBQ on the Bricks

Kearney

NE

9/13/2016

03/03&04/2017

Sip & Swine BBQ Festival

Lawrenceville

GA

9/21/2016

06/2&3/2017

McLouth BBQ Blowout 26th Anniversary

McLouth

KS

9/26/2016

04/21&22/2017

High on the Hog Festival

Winchester

TN

8/24/2016

05/13&14/2017

Beer, Fries & BBQ

Hasselt

Belgium

9/26/2016

08/11&12/2017

Mountain High BBQ Festival & Car Show

Franklin

NC

9/26/2016

09/2&3/2017

*Finger Lakes Fire & Smoke

Geneva

NY

9/26/2016

06/2&3/2017

Smokin In Steele

Owatonna

MN

9/28/2016

09/08&09/2017

13th Annual Recovery Fest/8th Annual BBQ State Championship

Richmond

VA

9/28/2016

06/16&17/2017

*Hog Capital Challenge

Kewanee

IL

9/28/2016

06/23&24/2017

*Heritage Days BBQ Showdown

Belvidere

IL

9/28/2016

02/3&4/2017

Brasstown Valley Resort BBQ Throwdown

Young Harris

GA

9/26/2016

07/01&02/2017

Prime UVE INVITATIONAL BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Gaiarine

Italy

9/28/2016

04/7&8/2017

The Best Damn BBQ Contest at Smithville Lake

Smithville

MO

9/22/2016

05/19&20/2017

Grand Lake BBQ & Festival

Langley

OK

9/29/2016

05/12&13/2017

*Fire on the Mountain(BACKYARD)

Arab

AL

9/12/2016

08/11&12/2017

Ceres Smoke on the River

Ceres

CA

10/4/2016

09/01&02/2017

Del Mar BBQ Championship

Del Mar

CA

10/4/2016

06/03&04/2017

Tony Stone Low & Slow BBQ Competition

Hoofddorp

Netherlands

BELOW NEEDS BOARD APPROVAL

Status

Date R'cvd

Date of Contest

Contest Name

City

ST

Conflicting Contests

Additional Information

Existing Contest

8/12/2016

05/19&20/2017

Madison Magazine BBQ Festival

Sauk City

WI

Fond Du Lac, WI

76 miles, both are existing contest Madison/Sauk City has to change their date due to it coincides with graduation weekend always the weekend after mother’s day in 2015 it was May 16 and 17 which was the 3rd weekend in 2016 it was May 12 and 13 the second weekend but because the 1st was a Sunday Mother’s Day was the 8th UW Madison Graduation is always the Sunday after Mother’s Day and Madison BBQ Festival is held that weekend to give the over 50,000 people that come to Madison that weekend a venue to attend outside of the ceremony

The committee reviewed the progress of the Organizers Facebook Page. Membership continues to grow. Great topics are being shared. The site is everything we hoped it would be. One comment today was from an organizer who took his event from a $4,000 deficit to a $20,000 profit in just a few years. Sandy is to contact him and to find out how he is willing to help other organizers.

The ad for the Bullsheet is being created by Karrin and Kim to advertise for participants in the video contest that the Sanctioning Committee is holding. Members will be encouraged to have their high schools, colleges and Technical Schools to enter this contest. The video will be used by KCBS and Organizers showing how a competition is organized and it will also have interviews from key people involved in organizing a competition. Details will be in the ad.

Debbie Yopp sent to the Committee the questions she thought should be in the Survey that is going to be sent to all Organizers. The Sanctioning Committee feels that this is a great way to understand what Organizers are doing to help their event grow, and if it isn’t why. Also the answers they give us will all be confidential. Karrin and Kim will compile the results and share them with the Committee and the Board.

A couple of questions Carolyn wanted to add were:

How do you think you could improve your communication with your Stakeholders?

How often prior to a competition are you communicating with your judges?

When Survey Monkey is completed Karrin will send to all Organizers not on Organizers Facebook Page and then post it on the Organizers Facebook Page.

Kids Q – Realizing that these young people are our future we want to encourage contest organizers to promote Kids Q. Some contests charge a $25.00 fee to enter Kids Q. Randy is going to contact a company that he feels may be interested in being a nationwide sponsor of grills for the contestants.

Social Media, using KCBS, and GAC Facebook and Twitter pages to promote KCBS-related events/promotion

GAC

New Press Release: “Tailgating Tips from Mike Peters”

Social Media

KCBS:

Twitter Impressions: 64,000 (4.58% +)

Facebook Page Likes: 46562 (1.86% +)

Facebook Reach: 918,082 (134.56% +)

Instagram followers: 816

Total Audience: 59,878 (3.22% +)

GAC (post boosting campaign underway)

Twitter Followers: 6,655 (1.37% +)

Twitter Impressions: 10,200 (3.77% -)

Facebook Page Likes: 24,222 (0.03% +)

Facebook Reach: 167,941 (365.9% +)

Instagram followers: 215

Total Audience: 31,092 (1.02% +)

Merchandise

ADVANCED ONLINE SALES REPORT

ROYALTY PAID TO KCBS

50% KCBS PORTION

50% MMA PORTION

January-16

$117.25

58.63

$58.63

February-16

$161.04

80.52

$80.52

March-16

$194.40

97.20

$97.20

APR-MAY 2016

$333.47

166.74

$166.74

June-16

$365.48

182.72

$182.72

July - 16

$599.67

$299.84

$299.84

August16

499.50

249.75

249.75

September 16

TOTAL

$1,171.64

585.81

$585.81

Miscellaneous

Grand Opening Campaign E-blast 10/10

Grand Opening Print Media Proofs in Progress

Grand Opening Partnership with Boulevardia

Grand Opening Sponsor Invites Sent 9/9

Mike McCloud to Attend Grand Opening

HPBA Partnership with Pitmasters

KCBS Mega CBJ Class Partnership with Smithfield

KCBS-Wide Ambassadors

Topics for Closed Session discussion

○ New Seal of Approval candidate

○ Steak Category opportunity

○ Backyard sponsor opportunity

Board of Directors advertising

Marketing Committee: Mike Hays

International:Wayne Lohman

2016 October BOM Report

The KCBS BOM is pleased to report International Team participation in the Jack Daniel’s World Barbecue Championship, The American Royal BBQ Contest and the World Food Championship has increased to over 15 teams competing at each event. 20 or more International Teams applied for each contest but we couldn’t accommodate since we had only so many cooking sites at each BBQ Event. BBQ Weisel, a German Team, will be competing at all three contests.

We are making progress on the International Section of the BullSheet with feature articles from recent contests, team and judging experiences and upcoming new country classes and contests. We have scheduled our first CBJ 2-day Class for cooks and judges in Costa Rica on February 25th -26th followed by a contest the next weekend. We are also planning contests dates for Panama, Brazil and Argentina for 2017.

We continue to be hampered by administrative problems with money exchange rates and timing of wire transfers. We are doing additional clarification of our contest sanctioning requirements and how we invoice for Rep Expenses. Our progress with International Sponsorship has been slow to date as our potential isn’t recognized by local business.

Minutes for CBJ Meeting

September 27, 2016

7:06 pm Central Time

Committee members attending:

Dennis Polson-CBJ Chair

Mike Peters-Co-Chair

Carolyn Wells-Director

Randy Bigler-President

Marge Plummer

Rich and Bunny Tuttle

Nancy Muller

Kelly McIntosh

Ralph Williams

Dave Londeen

Bill and Debby Gage

Carol Bigler

Continuing Education

Dennis Polson submitted the proper form to MMA for the questions to be posted to the website by MMA. The 100 questions were approved by the committee and will work the same way as signing on to take the Master Judge test. This means, when a member signs on to the continuing education questions, they will get a random selection of 50 questions containing both true/false and multiple choice questions. Dennis has asked that this be completed by November.

Rules for CBJ Signing

The rules for signing of the CBJ and MCBJ books were approved by the Board at the September meeting of the board. If you do not have a copy please let Dennis know.

CBJs Cooking Requirements

Judges working on meeting the requirements for becoming a Master CBJ may now cook at a Competitive, Licensed, or Backyard contest with any team at a contest, as long as the contest meets the requirements of rules 6 and 10.

Judge Contest Verification Record

Nancy Muller designed a new Judge’s Contest Signature Verification page to be placed in the back of the new CBJ manual. After some discussion, the committee wanted some slight modifications made; the addition of a line for the phone number and to take out the number 13 in the line phrased 13 steps. Otherwise, the committee voted that Dennis take the form to the board for approval. Nancy will make those changes and will e-mail all committee members the revised version.

Ambassador Program

Mike Peters explained how the ambassador program is to work at a contest. The ambassadors would work from a set agenda, a set script and a set outline designed by Donna Fong. It has been used in California with great success. Although most committee members agreed it was a program with great merits, there are some questions to be answered. For that reason, the topic was tabled until the next meeting.

Respectively submitted by

Carol D. Bigler

CBJ Report 9-28-16

It has been brought to the CBJ Committee a concern when a CBJ Report (CBJ’S Lacking Proof of Active Certification) should be sent in and what should be on this form.

First this form is for CB’S LACKING proof. This form is not for CBJ’s showing proof of being an Active member.

If a CBJ needs a new card because it was lost, etc. then you should list them on this sheet.

If a CBJ need to renew membership, then they should fill out a membership form.

For a new member they should fill out a membership form.

All 3 of these situations go to Sammie at the office for processing.

If an Organizer provides you with a list of Judges with their CBJ number you can work off this sheet to check in Judges. Send in a copy of this sheet with your paper work to fulfill the check mark on the second page of the KCBS Representative critique of Sanctioned KCBS Contest.

If the Organizer or Organizers assigned person is checking in Judges, be sure to tell them you need a copy of their Judges list for your paper work.

A Judge that has filled out their information for the Organizer on their application and then have to do the same thing at sign in on the Lacking proof form is over kill. Taking 2 to 3 hours to sign in Judges is inconvenient, unnecessary, burdensome, and time consuming.

I am sending this to all Reps but if complaints keep coming in I will be talking directly to the Reps that do not understand the form LACKING PROOF.

Dennis opened the meeting and reported that Committee recommendations for signing Judges’ books were approved by BOD and the information will be in the Bullsheet, posted online on the Judges’ site, and in the new CBJ books. He also reported that committee recommendations for CBJs cooking for their MCBJ requirement was passed as presented. Dennis stated that the statement regarding kale has been sent to all Reps.

Use of the “Lack of Proof of CBJ Verification Form” was discussed. Most committee members stated that they verify CBJs’ numbers & active status prior to each contest & use the “Lack of Proof” form only if a CBJ needs a new card mailed to them. All agreed that requiring every Judge to complete the form at time of check-in is unnecessary, time consuming and burdensome. Dennis will write up a statement, send it out to committee members for input & present it to the BOD.

Dennis has received information about a recent 30-35 team contest where the Reps had approximately 200 comment cards to process. A committee member commented that it takes longer to process comment cards than to input scores & print reports. Committee members agreed that comment cards can provide good feedback to cooks but can cause problems if completed incorrectly or do not provide constructive information. Dennis requested input from the committee regarding comment cards even though action may be tabled until next season.

Dennis reported that the Tech Committee had a request from a CBJ that the scores be listed in presentation order; the Judge “sometimes jots down or keeps mental notes.” Dennis invited discussion of this practice of recording scores during Judging. Larry Voth explained that he invites Judges to write scores on the judging plate if the Judge wants to write a comment card to expedite getting judging cards turned in timely. Steve Alvarez stated that he does that also & it works well. Committee members agreed that writing numbers on the plate for comment card use is acceptable but nothing else & that a Judge taking written notes out of the judging area should be prohibited – “what happens in the judging area stays in the judging area.” Dennis will write a statement for committee members’ review & input & then present it to BOD for approval.

Carolyn requested that all committee members review the Rep Manual and provide suggestions for changes and corrections.

Respectfully Submitted by:

Linda Polson, Recording Secretary

Tech Committee-Joe Otto

The Tech Committee met October 4, 2014

Review of 12.6.1

No issues discovered or reported, will move forward in implementation

Changes include: submit contest no longer has delete contest function, fixes the random category printing on team details. Fixes the ancillary overall. Supports the install file (we still have a printing issue when desktop zoom is selected)

Review of Judge's Scorecard

Stephanie of MMA provided page views to show how many members are accessing the information on the KCBS website. Information will be provided monthly with the Marketing Report.

Discussion for future review

Number of views

Feedback from users

We have three years’ worth of data but members have only two months of access to data. Continue to gather information before trying to establish trends.

Sandy thanked Randall and Rusty and Julie for taking the time from their very busy schedule for the Taste Testing at the Marriott. They all were very pleased with the selections. Randall did request from the Hotel that they provide table service during the Banquet for the cash bar. They are willing to do that. Possibly one server for every 3-4 tables.

Randal reported that Jeremy Moyers will provide the AV service at the Banquet for $5,500. The Committee accepted the offer and told Randall to please get back to Jeremy and let him know that we want him to provide this service.

Sandy reported she did not have an update on Sponsorships. Mike had said to contact Stephanie in October. She will do that by the next meeting and report to committee.

Lifetime members will receive two drink tickets on Friday night party.

The Friday night themed party will run from 8 PM to Midnight. We will have a DJ, Cash Bar and Photo Booth.

Thursday night we will host Bingo. Randy will be the caller, he has all of the supplies to do this. Carol is going to check on what other Bingo games charged for the cards and get back to the committee. Randall and Julie are going to see what prizes they can get for the games. If not it will be cash prizes.

There are no exhibitors signed up as of this date. Hoping MMA will have some input in this.

We are still looking for a Guest Speaker. Randy said he, Rusty and Julie will look in the Atlanta area for someone.

Randall is donating a cooker to raffle.

Rusty, Randall, Julie and Carol are working on items for the Goody Bags.

Still possibility of doing Silent Auction, although it was not successful last year.

Raye reported that we currently have 10 volunteers and are looking for more.

Sandy will send out notice to the Chairs on the Board of Directors that there will be a Committee Briefing Meeting on Friday at 9 AM. The Chairpersons should be prepared to speak about the goals and accomplishments they have had for their Committee this past year.

Randall offered to have items from KCBS shipped to his office instead of the hotel prior to the Banquet.

Rules Committee: Mike Richter, Chair

The Rule Committee met September 12th. Several items were discussed including submitting a motion to return the maximum bonus points to 50. In accordance with established procedures, the motion was posted on the KCBS website 14 days prior to the next Board meeting to allow for member input. Below is the motion and what was published on the website. The next committee meeting is October 10th at 7 pm central.

The rule change motion listed below will be submitted to the Board of Directors for consideration during the October 2016 meeting. Approximately 20 percent of KCBS competitions have 50 or more teams. An average competition has around 38 teams competing. The maximum bonus points a team may earn at a comp with regards to Team of the Year (TOY) points was reduced from 50 to 35 in 2014. Returning the maximum number of bonus points for a competition from 35 to 50 allows for recognition of teams competing in above average size competitions. If the motion is approved, it would be effective for the 2017 competition season and not have any impact on the current TOY race.

The motion is hereby submitted to increase the maximum number of Team of the Year points from 35 to 50.

Membership Report: Mike Peters

September Membership Numbers

Active Members 21037

New Members 379

New from CBJ Class 168

Renewed Members 1193

Non-Renewed Members 617

New from Website 191

Total Lifetime Members 1086

International Members 1234

Countries Represented 29

Membership Committee met on Wednesday, September 21. The following are the meeting minutes including 2 motions for the board.

Membership Application rework - Only change is BOD voted in Jan to increase membership cost from $35 to $40 if someone requests a paper Bullsheet effective Jan 1, 2017. I will work with Karrin to add this change.

We need to discuss issues concerning this change. International members receive everything electronic other than initial badges - should we be charging them more? Currently they are charged $40. For accounting purposes - different levels are difficult to manage.

At this time, there are 6 different levels of membership.

1. Individual Domestic - $35/yr

2. Family Domestic - $50/yr

3. Individual International - $45/yr

4. Family International - $60/yr

5. Individual Lifetime - $400

6. Family Lifetime - $500

There is also:

The Membership Committee move that a member 65 years old or older, in good standing, that has paid their dues five (5) consecutive years, KCBS will add those 5 years together and subtract that amount from a Single or Family Lifetime Membership. The member will pay the difference for a Single or Family Lifetime Membership. A KCBS member wishing to take advantage of the Lifetime Membership payment will agree to: 1. Be and maintain a membership in good standing according to KCBS rules and regulations. 2. Receive their Bullsheet by electronic mailing. No paper Bullsheet will be mailed. The scheduled payment for this type of Lifetime Membership will be: Single Lifetime Membership Lifetime Membership = $400.00 Five years at $35.00 = $ 175.00 Balance Due = $225.00; Family Lifetime Membership Lifetime Membership = $500.00 Five years at $50.00 = $250.00 Balance Due = $250.00. NOT RETROACTIVE. PASSED. ONE NAY.

BOD voted in July 2016 to increase membership cost from $35 to $40 if someone requests a paper Bullsheet effective Jan 1, 2017.

Changing the membership rate for members requesting a paper Bullsheet effective Jan 1, 2017 will be difficult to achieve and raises potential issues:

1. In 2013 or 2014, under the leadership of President Candy Weaver, the board approved that new members would receive the Bullsheet electronically to help cut costs of mailing paper Bullsheet. There is still an option on the online membership application for members to receive the bull sheet in paper form.

2. Currently people choose the incorrect level of membership which causes daily manual corrections by the office staff.

The membership committee makes the following recommendations:

1. The formal form has already been filled out requesting that any reference to paper bull sheets be deleted off the online membership application. Any reference to members receiving paper bull sheets on the kcbs.us site be deleted.

2. In a formal motion (I cannot seem to find where this is referenced in board actions), All new membership to KCBS will receive the KCBS Bullsheet in electronic form. There is not an option for current membership to change from electronic to paper Bullsheet going forward.

The reason for this motion is to document a former motion. The electronic Bullsheet has been proven to be reliable for members and there is quite a large cost for producing and mailing paper Bullsheet.

3. In a formal motion, the membership committee recommends changing the KCBS membership rates as following. Domestic and International Individual membership $40 US/year. Domestic and International Family membership $55 US/year. Domestic and International Individual lifetime membership $400 US/year. Domestic and International Family lifetime membership $500 US/year. Members prior to 2014 will still receive paper bull sheets if they currently receive. Members since 2014 to current receiving the paper bull sheet will be asked to go to the electronic bull sheet.

KCBS last had a membership rate increase in 2004. For accounting purposes, this change eases the burden on the office. This rate change brings domestic and international membership rates in line with each other. The rate change should encourage lifetime memberships.

Ambassador Program - I will be forwarding the Ambassador Program details to the BOD. There was a concern by the CBJ committee about CBJ book signatures as volunteers if the CBJ is not a MCBJ. The CBJ committee feels that the first 30 contests (up to 10 volunteer signatures) should be focused on other duties “inside” the tent but are very receptive to allowing “Ambassador” duty to count towards a MCBJ total judging signatures. In discussing the Ambassador program, the Membership committee respectfully asks for KCBS Ambassadors to receive volunteer signatures towards their Master and 100+ status. While we understand that it is important for CBJ’s working towards their master status understand the different roles within the judging tent, an ambassador role rounds out CBJ knowledge based upon all the information provided. The Ambassador role also serves as an advocate for KCBS as it is designed to not be a passive assignment but an active participant in engaging with public and promoting KCBS. The design of the program limits just who can be considered for an ambassador role and is a tool to help round out a members KCBS experience.

We hope to involve more state/area associations and would like to reach out to the following groups first: MABA, GBC, Iowa BBQ Society, RMBBQA and MNBBQ.

Proactive Membership Drive - Auto Renewal E-Blast has gone out. Will work with Sammye and Sybilla on best time to send out mass email for non-renewed members. I believe we should wait until membership cost can be determined.

Discuss proactive push for new markets. Will form an ad hoc committee to discuss. Would like to discuss with committee members knowledgeable with CBJ classes as we are trying a push into the Houston, TX area which could set the stage for other TX areas which is an open market! Due to needing CBJ’s in the Texas area for the Humble contest being held on Feb 3 & 4, 2017, the membership adhoc committee is coordinating a CBJ class in Houston for January 21 & 22. These classes would be held on both Saturday and Sunday with an afternoon “Kiss and Tell” class for cook teams and new CBJ’s to help acclimate themselves to KCBS standards and differences.

There was also brief discussion on opening back up CBJ classes and increasing food quality at CBJ classes to better help new CBJ’s understand competition quality BBQ.

The Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening event for the KCBS World Headquarters is scheduled for October 24th at 11 A.M. The Grand Opening will continue through October 29th from 11 A.M. until 3 P.M. each day.

The donor wall is in place. The donation details are listed in the current Bullsheet. Individuals may designate their donation to be targeted to scholarships, etc. by asking for a tax exempt letter. With that said, all monies received will go into the general fund to benefit KCBS, some targeted to philanthropic endeavors, and other monies to be used as needed for the building and to advance the KCBS worldwide mission.

The final draft was reviewed and will be forwarded to our committee for review prior to submission to the Executive Committee. The plan is to present the documentation for approval to the board in November.

Explore Additional Ways to Expand the KCBS Brand and Increase Participation at Events:

We are exploring the establishment of a SmokeMaster program. Details will follow after further discussion by the committee.

MOTION: Motion that a minimum of 18 participants are required for a CBJ class held in conjunction with a contest being held within the same week and that a minimum of 24 participants are required for a CBJ class conducted at any other time. Further, the organizer shall make up any participant shortage by paying a fee of $45 per person.

Philanthropy Committee Report: Dave Compton

We have been studying a lot of info on fundraising and I will be getting together with Bill Capstack this month to discuss options on promoting the Donor Wall.

Or newly revised Challenge Grants applications are almost ready to post to the website.

Old Business:

New Business

Closed Session Agenda:

Dennis Polson:

Motion for the approval of a new CBJ Instructor who has completed their training and received good reviews from their Instructors.

Sandy Fulton:

Discussion regarding a contest organizer with possible motion to follow.